(Finance) – Crédit Agricole Italia supports the development of Italian agri-food sector providing an ESG KPI linked loan for a total amount of 15 million euros in favor of Colussi Group, an Italian entrepreneurial reality active for over 200 years in the production of baked goods, pasta and chocolate, through its brands Colussi, Misura, Sapori 1832, Agnesi, Plin and Vialetto. Crédit Agricole supports the Company throughout the complex process of ecological transition by combining the loan with a spread reduction mechanism, connected in turn to the progressive achievement of 2 ESG objectives related to Sustainability Plan of Colussi and relevant to its activity: on the one hand, on an environmental level, the measurement and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of products through life cycle analysis, while, on the other, on a social level, the achievement of a wider gender equality, parenting management and work-life balance.
In this regard, the company will invest to improve its performance regarding the PdR 125 Certification “Gender Equality“, which requires medium-long term action plans aimed at evolving the corporate culture.
“For Crédit Agricole Italia, sustainability represents a fundamental component of the business model, a driving force for transformation and digitalisation, which translates into accompanying customers along the complex energy transition process in compliance with ESG principles – he declares Roberto Ghisellini, Co-General Manager of Crédit Agricole Italia. “The financing operation for an excellence of Made in Italy such as the Colussi Group is a concrete example of how we intend to act in synergy with the entrepreneurial fabric of the country, encouraging the development of an economy that is attentive to the environment and inclusive, for the benefit of all territories and the community”.
The Colussi Group, a family business founded way back in 1791, is today an excellence of Made in Italy, a symbol of quality that competes in the major international markets. Society, through its factories productive in the world and in Italy, offers and develops a complete range of traditional food products capable of satisfying the most diverse needs of consumers.
Sustainability And innovation, conceived both in terms of product and technological efficiency, and as a change in current production and consumption models to build development in balance with the ecosystem and communities, are two of Colussi’s key values. This materializes in the reduction of plastic from packaging, -600 tons of plastic packaging compared to 2020, 4,758 hectares of controlled supply chain (+300 compared to 2021), 100% of renewable electricity and 100% of residual CO2 emissions compensated in all factories, life cycle analysis on 38 products. Furthermore, the Group has for years been engaged in the creation of sustainability campaigns for the valorisation of the internal areas of the country and for environmental education.
“Our Group’s commitment to a more sustainable country and planet grows stronger every year – he explains James Colussi, CEO of the Group. “It is a serious path made of very concrete and measurable, but also innovative choices that are positioning us as a company strongly committed to the ecological transition. After all, Italian know-how, linked to traditions and territories, has always written in its genetic code the keys to looking to the future, like our historic company which has its roots in the past but with an eye constantly turned to the future. The collaboration with Crédit Agricole Italia will allow us to further strengthen our commitment to a more sustainable world.”
(Photo: Sylvain Robin | Dreamstime)